


Dream a little dream

by aworldinside



Category: Sorted (Website) RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:00:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21831139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aworldinside/pseuds/aworldinside
Summary: “I don’t know isn’t James more like a slab of beef?”“Did you just call James a beefcake?” Ben asked with a laugh.The one where James is distracted, Jamie is helpful and Mike is paying more attention than James thinks.
Relationships: James Currie/Mike Huttlestone
Comments: 5
Kudos: 88
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	Dream a little dream

**Author's Note:**

  * For [matchsticks_p (matchsticks)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/matchsticks/gifts).

James was running late. Or late for him anyway. Usually he liked to get to the gym first thing on a Tuesday but he hadn’t slept well. Or he had slept well. It depended how you looked at it.

He walked into the office area of Sorted, took his laptop out of his bag and put it down on his desk. 

“Morning, James.” Ben was sitting at his desk, with a coffee beside him, staring at his phone in deep contemplation at some food article. Or he was scrolling through Instagram looking at dog pictures. It could have been either. 

“Hey, mate.” 

Coffee. Coffee would help.

He made himself a coffee, and his mind wandered as the coffee extracted into the small blue cup.

_A hand caressing down his face. Running through his hair. Smiling at him gently through sleepy eyes. _

_"Did you sleep okay?”_

He shook his head and took his coffee back to his desk. 

He checked his email - not too many - and clicked through a few of his favourite news sites and food websites. There was an interesting article on heirloom vegetables that he read for a bit. 

_“I bet you slept like a log, after what we got up to last night.” A cheeky smile. A raise of an eyebrow. A warm feeling in remembrance. A couple of warm feelings._

James didn’t often remember his dreams, but he just couldn’t seem to shake this one.

“Heya, mate.” Mike put a hand on his shoulder. James didn’t mean to, but he jumped.

“Woo a little jumpy today there, buddy. Too many coffees already this morning?” 

Mike’s hand was still on his shoulder. Warm even though the shoulder of his chef jacket. 

“Uh, something like that, yeah.” His voice sounded very quick in his head. 

“We’re going to start the meeting now since Katie has to leave in a bit, cool?” He gave James’s shoulder squeeze. 

“Yeah fine, I’ll just be over in a minute.” 

_A hand gripped his shoulder and he pulled James on top of him. “Want to go for another round, mate?” _

_“Yeah, sounds good.” _

_Mike grinned back at him. _

\--

The other boys knew he was into guys. That wasn’t an issue. And it’s not like he was alone in the Sorted team in that regard. 

He hadn’t been seeing someone for a while. Not for anything lasting anyway. He was young(ish) and Sorted kept him pretty busy. 

And you know, shockingly, he’d noticed Mike was pretty attractive (as had a lot of people in their comments section) and was smart, and creative and cared about so many things, but he’d put it aside, because these were his work mates, and if anything happened with these guys who he spent so much time with? It could either be fine, or it could be definitely … not fine. 

He definitely felt like a full part of the Sorted family and had for years, but when it came right down to it, if it was a choice between Mike or him having to leave if anything went weird - well he wasn’t the one who’d got drunk for the first time in Barry’s parents garage games room, or gone on their first road trip to the south coast when Jamie had gotten his licence. 

But recently he’d been feeling - well lonely, he guessed. Which was weird when he spent so much time here, and he had other friends who he saw often. He just that something was missing, and he might want to do something about it. 

And recently he thought the times when he did look at Mike … that Mike, maybe, perhaps was looking back at him too. 

\--

They talked about some new developments for the app, scheduled the next Pass it On Challenge (which came with the accompanying groans and Mike popping in with “But the engagement boys, the engagement is so good”) and sorted out who would be going to a promising new sponsorship meeting next week (it was usually Jamie and whoever else he could rope into going, and this time it was Barry).

The last item on the agenda (or the hastily written email that passed for an agenda), was who would be the chef in their latest version of Chef vs A Normal. 

“How about Big, Tall and Ginger over there?” Jamie said, leaning back in his chair a little. 

“I have a name, Jamie. I am just a piece of meat to you?” He replied with mock outrage. 

“Mmm meat … but what kid of meat would you be …?“ Jamie looked genuinely looked far away while he pondered it for a second. “I’m sorry what were you saying, Bacon?” 

“Idiot.”

Jamie just grinned cheekily in response. It was hard to stay mad at him too long. 

“I don’t know isn’t James more like a slab of beef?” Mike said, leaning back in his chair a little. 

“Did you just call James a beefcake?” Ben asked with that little snort of his in his laugh. 

Mike rolled his eyes, “Shut up, Ebbers” but James wondered if he was imagining the slight colour to Mike’s cheeks.

\--

James was cutting up some carrots in the set-up kitchen when he had a feeling like he was being watched. 

“You should ask him you know.” It was Jamie. Jamie who got a lot of shit for being a clown, and the laddish one, but honestly he was probably the most in touch with his feelings of the lot of them, and gave the best life advice. 

James stopped chopping and turned around to look at his mate, wiping his hands on the tea towel hanging off his shoulder.

“Ask who what?”

“You’re not a daft boy, James. Don’t act like one now. He’d say yes.”

James’s heart picked up just a little bit. He walked over to the doorway of the set-up kitchen and looked surreptitiously over to the desk area.

“He went out to pick something up,” Jamie said. “I wouldn’t be saying this if I thought he could overhear, fuck I’m not that stupid. This isn’t the first clandestine conversation I’ve had about a friend’s romantic life,” he left that statement hanging and James had some questions. 

Jamie continued, “I’ve known him a while now - which well obviously you know - and I’ve seen him like plenty of people. I know the signs. He likes you.” Jamie put a hand on his shoulder. “Ask him out. Please.” 

He left the kitchen, but not before stealing a carrot from the bench. “What?” He said, when James glared at him. "Trying to eat healthier, aren’t I?”

Jamie’s words stuck with him as he moved on to chopping the potatoes. 

Chop chop ask him chop chop chop he’ll say yes chop chop chop. 

\--

Mike was still at his desk when James came back from the set-up kitchen after finishing his recipe lab. The rest of the office was pretty much empty, except for Ed in the far corner finishing up some editing, and he had his headphones on. Barry and Jamie had probably headed home to their families and Ben had been talking earlier about a social engagement, in his calendar that was full of them. 

James just decided to do it.Take Jamie’s advice. And what was ‘it’ really? Just inviting a mate for a beer. People did that all the time and didn’t mean anything by it. It was fine. Totally fine.

He grabbed his laptop and bag, fussed with it a little bit and then took a deep breath and walked over towards Mike’s desk, which took all of a few seconds. 

“Do you fancy a beer?”

Mike looked up at him with a surprised look on this face but readily agreed. 

They went to one of their favourite locals - it was East London, there wasn’t exactly a lack of nearby pub options, so they had multiple locals and multiple favourites. 

It was a Tuesday night, and it wasn’t too busy. Monday they had drink specials on, and Wednesday was quiz night, but Tuesday was a bit of a lull in between. 

Mike ordered a local pale ale, and James got a good dark ale from the hand pull and they found an out of the way table in the corner.

“Cheers.” They clinked glasses.

They talked aimlessly for a little bit, about the crowd in the pub, and what the Tube lines were doing today, before Mike just came right out and said what James thought he had been hiding well all day. 

“You’ve been looking at me weirdly all day, what’s with that?” 

“Uh, have I?” He took a sip of his beer to cover his face. 

“You have, mate.” 

“Just been thinking about something.”

“Well I hope you didn’t hurt yourself. Or strain something.”

James laughed. It was an easy joke, but Mike’s smile was broad and bright. 

“What have you been thinking about?”

Topics whirred through his head. How he hoped they'd go back to Japan. How Ben needed to stop leaving food science experiments in the fridge. How he had a brand new idea for a thing for the channel ...

“You.”

Mike paused. James’s heart was hammering in his chest.

“Well as it happens, I’ve been thinking a bit about you a bit too.” And he moved his hands that were wrapped around his pint glass closer to James’s on the table. 

Fuck, Jamie was right. He’d never hear the end of this.


End file.
